Cast Your Fate to the Wind

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
Single by Sounds Orchestral
from the album Cast Your Fate to the Wind
B-side	"To Wendy With Love"
Released	February 1965
Genre	Jazz Rock
Length	3:00
Label	Parkway Records 942
Writer(s)	Vince Guaraldi, Carel Werber
Producer(s)	John Schroeder
Sounds Orchestral singles chronology
"Cast Your Fate To The Wind" (1965) "Moonglow" (1965)

"Cast Your Fate To The Wind" is an American jazz instrumental selection whose music was composed, and which was originally recorded, by Vince Guaraldi; later, lyrics for it were written by Carel Werber. It won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1963.^[1] It was included on the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, which the Vince Guaraldi Trio released on the Fantasy Records label on April 18, 1962.^[2] On at least some copies of the album, the title on the label contained a printing error; it read "Cast Your Faith To The Wind," an unintentionally comic twist to the sentiment of the song.^[3]

The tune has been covered by many artists in a wide range of genres, including both male and female solo vocalists, pop, folk, and rock groups, as well as many instrumental performers . In Australia, a vocal version by Mel Tormé was a hit in 1963. In 1965 the British easy listening group Sounds Orchestral redirected the song away from much of the jazz influenced midsection to more of a nightclub sound and concluded the tune with a short piano section. That version attained #5 in the UK, #10 on the US pop chart, and #1 for three weeks in May on the US Easy Listening chart.^[4] In 1966, North Hollywood singer Shelby Flint released a version of the song.

The West Coast folk-rock bands We Five and The Sandpipers, along with pop singer Johnny Rivers, recorded vocal versions of the song, and there were further instrumental recordings from Earl Klugh, George Benson, David Benoit, Chet Atkins, George Winston and Nelson Rangell.^[5][6] In 1970, the rock group James Gang covered the song as part of a three-song medley ("The Bomber Medley") on their album James Gang Rides Again. Quincy Jones rendered a beautiful orchestral arrangement of the song on his 1971 album Smackwater Jack. In 1976 an easy listening version was recorded by guitarist Harald Winkler and the Norman Candler Orchestra.

The song was featured in the 1987 film, "Good Morning, Vietnam" and also in the 1988 film The In Crowd. In 2007, the alternative-rock band They Might Be Giants spoofed the song's title by issuing "Cast Your Pod to the Wind," a bonus disc to their album The Else.^[7] It consisted of songs which, before then, had only been heard on their podcasts. Allen Toussaint's version is the first ending theme for the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

The song has been rendered, with French lyrics, as both "Ne tremble pas mon pauvre coeur" (1965) recorded by Marianne Mille (fr) and also as "Le nez dans le vent" (1967) recorded by Shirley Théroux (fr).

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1965 (U.S.)

References

1. Best Original Jazz Composition award winners Retrieved February 27, 2012.
2. Vince Guaraldi Trio, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus Retrieved February 27, 2012.
3. My only source is what I saw with my own eyes when one of my Georgetown U. grad school roommates brought the album home in 1964. We played it often, and I eventually noticed the misprint, which all of us got a good laugh out of.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 227.
5. "My American Songbook, Vol. 1 overview". Allmusic.com.
6. "Nelson Rangell - My American Songbook (Vol. 1)". SmoothViews.com.
7. They Might Be Giants, The Else Retrieved February 27, 2012.